Hey all — gray day here in the Florida Panhandle — and muggy. Only lasted 1 hour working outside this morning. Boredom has set in. Don’t see a bucket in queue so here’s a simple offering of wildflowers. The cover photo is from Saturday at Gholson Nature Park in Chattahoochee.
August 2022
The other day I mentioned
Liatris spicata as being 6-10’ tall. Not true — but they are up to 8’ tall. As you can see from this one, I’m holding the iPhone head-high and aiming higher.
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and note life’s patterns. We invite you to share in the comments what you see in your own part of the world.
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Here’s a closeup of another that opened overnight.
and this one, same species, got twisty as it turned to find the sun. Some growing among small saplings twist 2-3 times.
Over in the sideyard there are dozens of Liatris gholsonii. This one is typical with the top-down flowering and changing to white as the flowers mature.
closeup…
I have a “cheat sheet” to help me identify the 5 Liatris species growing in my meadow. And notes on 4 others I see west of here in the sandhills. Not sure how it publishes...
Species common height flowers sess/ped phyllary — other notes
spicata Dense to 6 5-8 sess phyllary round with red-purple margin
gracilis Slender 4-5? 3-6 pedicle leaves smaller up stem, may twist
elegantula Grassleaf 3-4 8-11 sess phyllary hyaline (glassy) margins
elegans Pinkscale 1-3 4-5 sess to short large phyllary, in colors
gholsonii Gholson’s 1-3 3 pedicle flowers fade to white
squarrulosa Southern 2-6 11-26 sess? pube/glab, tips triangle to round, purple margin
squarrosa Scaly 1-2 20-60 mixed phyllary large 5-7 whorls
tenuifolia Shortleaf 3-5 4-6 ? ??? phyllary round w pink margin
aspera Rough 2-4 18-24 short ped phyllary swollen w pink, lighter margin
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Down in the bottom, the Mikania has started to flower. aka Climbing Hempvine.
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Just for laughs, here is the vine that ate the South. I was going to make it the cover photo to see if anyone recognized it but the Rhexia is so much prettier and may draw a few more viewers — who I hope will join us in the comments…...